


The Scholarship Girl

by the_impatient_panda



Category: Last Tango In Halifax
Genre: AU, Early Beginnings, Early Days, F/F, F/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Spoilers, Through Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25431472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_impatient_panda/pseuds/the_impatient_panda
Summary: What if instead of meeting as middle aged adults, Gillian and Caroline's first run in was as young teenagers at a special literary camp, and Gillian was the Scholarship Girl?Hm.WARNING:INCOMPLETE Solid start, quickly peters out into basic descriptors all the way up to when the show takes over. Obviously, everything would change from there. This was a fun idea for me, but I didn't want to run it through to it's conclusion, so this is what you're left with. Enjoy!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The Scholarship Girl

At fifteen, Caroline was more than relieved to be away from her mother for two weeks. It was a literary camp, so opportunities for mischief would be few, but at least there would be no constant attempts to find out what she was doing or who she was talking to and telling her she was wrong about both. That it would look good on her transcripts was merely a bonus, as she was quite set on going on to getting her degree in science and not English.

She would miss her father, of course, but he was frequently gone on business trips and was generally busy even when home. 

The dorms the girls were to stay in required did not have private rooms, but perhaps that was for the best. She didn't know her roommate, but that was part of the appeal of this summer program. None of them were from her school or her town, and in a way that was...nice. A fresh slate. Maybe she could be someone she wouldn’t hate from all the pretending by the end of the two weeks. Maybe this time she could just...be herself. 

Her guide down the beige hallway was a college graduate student, a literary hopeful trying to inspire younger minds in her own quest. Caroline was less concerned with being inspired and more with being herself. But all knowledge was useful in the right context and if a little inspiration rubbed off on her, no harm done. 

The roommate was already there, and her guide told them to introduce themselves and be downstairs for dinner in an hour before leaving to light the way for the next lost soul. 

Caroline stared at the other girl, and wondered just what she’d gotten herself into. She was skinny, bone-thin in a way that made her seem all arms and legs with nothing in between. Her hair was in a messy tail, and the school sweater hung awkwardly on her narrow shoulders. Her smile was uncertain, her freckles uneven, her whole being tense like a colt about to run. And she was also the scholarship girl. 

That much was obvious at a glance. Oh, adults liked to pretend that wearing uniforms to school was ‘the great equalizer’, that you couldn’t really tell who came from money and who didn’t. She promised herself not to be that stupid when she was an adult, and wondered how many before her had thought the same. They were told to wear their uniforms so as to give the camp a more ‘educational’ feel. Her’s was obviously from the sale section at the local shops, if not a second hand shop. 

“You c’n jus’ tell ‘em y’don’t like me,” the girl said when the silence stretched too long, turning away abruptly. “I’ll call you names it if helps.”

Caroline felt her cheeks flush, and opened her mouth to retort...and stopped. She was staring, and that was rude. Clearing her throat, she amended her words to, “No, sorry. I just...you weren’t what I was expecting.”

“Obviously.” Still looking away with a scoff. “Knew this was a m-....mistake.”

“Mistake?” Coming in, and putting her duffle on the other bed.

“Comin’ ‘ere. With all you lot.”

“There...might be someone else here you’d be more comfortable with.” Carefully.

“So y’do want a change.”

“I didn’t-” Huffing loudly, then turning towards her, hand stuck out. “I’m sorry. And I mean that. My name’s Caroline.”

Carefully, like a hunted animal emerging from the shadows. “....Gillian.” Taking her hand, and shaking it firmly. Suddenly she smiles, and it just absolutely changes her from a homely scholarship girl to something...beautiful. Caroline can feel herself blushing. “Can I call you Caz?”

“...what?”

“Y’know, Caz.” Still grinning, as she drops her hand. “Probably too posh for ye-”

“I am not posh.” Regretting it immediately. 

“Yes, you are.” Smile softening a little. “...y’can still change your mind.”

“About?” Confused, starting to open her back and trying to cool her reddened cheeks.

“Staying here. With the scholarship girl.” Flopping back on her bed. “Really, I will understand.”

“Hoping they’ll give you a room to yourself?” Hanging up her clothes in the closet.

“No. They already said if I lose another roomie they’ll put me with one of the older girls. So she c’n ‘look after me’.” Scoffing again.

“Lose another...?”

Gillian goes still, firmly looking away.

“Gillian.”

“...she started it.” Scowling now. “No reason t’say nowt about my school. Or m-.. the way I talk, sometimes.”

“Private schooled?”

“Saint...something or other.” Waving a hand. “She was being a bitch, so I told her so. Apparently I ‘offended her with my crass language’. Bitch.”

Caroline’s mother would want her to leave. To request a new roommate. Caroline didn’t want to do what her mother wanted. 

“I’ll stay.”

“You’re sure?” Glancing at her. “She knows other girls. Might not make many friends...being around me.”

“I think I’ll live.” Rolling her eyes. “Besides, if you’re here on scholarship you’re probably pretty smart. And I might need all the help I can get with literary things.”

Suddenly suspicious. “I won’t do your work for ye.”

“Of course not!” Offended. “No, I mean...teachers tell me I take things too literally sometimes. Having someone who’s able to see what the author means instead of what they say would be helpful. That’s all.”

“Oh, that.” Shrugging. “Tha’s easy.”

Caroline laughed, “Well, not for everyone.”

And somehow, from that moment on they were friends.

-090-

Camp things together. The other girls ignoring them for the most part, and Caroline not minding a bit because Gillian has a razor wit (when her stutter isn’t getting in the way) and finds the work easy. The third day, she asks Gillian why she never speaks up in class, and eventually coaxes out of her that speaking in front of a group always brings out her stutter. So she just doesn’t. So instead, she speaks for Gillian. And then purposefully gets it wrong once, so that Gillian interrupts her and corrects her. Slowly draws her out more. 

So, one girl comes to them (Gillian) for help, and Caroline sort of moderates between them. This leads to another asking for help, and another. By the end, Gillian is speaking more and more comfortably with the others, and it ends on a pretty good note for everyone. Gillian gives Caroline a hug when it's time to say goodbye, and they exchange addresses and promise to keep in touch. 

-090-

And they do. Exchanging letter by letter, they share everything together. Gillian gets pregnant, and has the abortion. Caroline supports her as best she can, and promises they can go to school together if she’ll just finish her coursework. Because she’s brilliant with English, and amazing at writing. They can go to Cambridge together!

And...Caroline does it, because she has someone in her corner, cheering her on. 

-090-

At Cambridge they don’t room together at first, but end up together after their first roommates don’t work out because Gillian gets a girlfriend and her roommate is highly offended by that. Caroline admits to liking girls too, but they don’t want to end up together and ruin a perfectly good friendship. So instead, they support each other through boys and girls (because Caroline is still a little bit in denial) and meet each other’s families, but they never meet one another (the parents). 

After her undergraduate work, Gillian has to move home. Her mother isn’t doing well, and her father still works. They stay in touch. Gillian is writing some, but mostly just caring for her mother. 

Caroline meets John, who in some ways reminds her of Gillian. It's enough to convince her that...she could make this work. He seems thoroughly in love, and her father at least likes him. Her mother is less thrilled, but her mother is never thrilled unless it's because she’s been proven right about something and so she ignores that and Gillian’s less than enthusiastic response to it. 

Which is around the time Gillian meets Eddie, and gets pregnant. She ends up getting married in front of a justice of the peace, and Caroline is so annoyed that when Gillian says she isn’t sure she can make the wedding to John she basically tells her fine. It's fine. 

A few years go by, with minimal contact. Caroline feels pricked when she reads back through the letters she finds in a box one day, home with her elder son while preparing for the arrival of her younger. So she writes, and Gillian writes back and it's like nothing ever happened between them. She can tell something isn’t alright with Gillian, but can’t quite uncover what. 

They take a weekend trip together, like they did when they were younger, to Bath. Gillian tells her the truth there, under the stars while they’re drinking together on the beach. About Eddie and what he did to her and what happens now and...Caroline accepts it. Accepts it all. Accepts what happened, and who she is, and how much she still loves her regardless. 

Which brings things to her own marriage. She’s not...thrilled with John anymore. But there are parts of fatherhood that he’s...adept at. And she cannot bring herself to be unfaithful to someone she married. They talk about their boys some, and Caroline suggests getting them together...except that means exposing her to John. Maybe it's not such a good idea after all?

After she goes home, Gillian gets a gift. It's a new computer, so that she and Caroline can email back and forth. Caroline tries to push her to write again, and Gillian considers it. She’s still a bit of a trainwreck, but her writing actually starts to get off the ground some. 

Then John cheats on Caroline. She turns to Gillian, of course, but she has her sheep farm and her son and writing, and Caroline also meets Kate. Who she falls for hard. Gillian tries to be supportive, but its easier when they don’t actually see each other. 

Kate knows about Gillian, sort of. 

And then their parents reconnect. 

It all goes downhill from there.


End file.
